Pima Indians have a high prevalence of obesity, diabetes mellitus and hyperinsulinemia, but they have low plasma cholesterol levels, reduced LDL synthesis, and greatly decreased incidence of cardiovascular disease. VLDL metabolism in Pima Indians will be investigated in order to further investigate lipoprotein metabolism in this population. Synthetic and catabolic rates for VLDL will be compared in groups having different insulin levels using tritiated glycerol as a precursor. VLDL metabolism will be studied in a group diabetics to determine the influence of hyperglycemia on VLDL metabolism in this population. Conversion of VLDL to LDL will be studied using 125I VLDL and 131I LDL simultaneously. Postheparin, muscle, and adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase levels will be measured. The results of this study should yield data on VLDL metabolism and its conversion to LDL in this population and explore the relation between these lipoproteins and cardiovascular disease.